1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to thrust bearings, and more particularly concerns directed lube thrust bearings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Directed lube thrust bearings are now widely received in industry. One such thrust bearing is a thrust bearing designed and manufactured by Kingsbury, Inc., of Philadelphia, Pa., and marketed under the trademark LEG, which has proven to be a great advance in the design of thrust bearings since its introduction to the marketplace. The LEG thrust bearing is disclosed in Kingsbury U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,505, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Vibration of shafts being supported by directed lube thrust bearings beyond acceptable limits is a great concern since such vibration is noisy, and worse, may lead to cracking of the foundations that support the machines of which the shafts are a part. Further, such vibration may cause things, such as the thrust bearings and parts of the machines of which the shafts are a part, to shake, which may lead to damage of these things and failure of the thrust bearings and the machines.
Proper monitoring of shaft vibration to maintain vibration below acceptable limits guards against such possible damage and failure. If shaft vibration is outside the specification for shaft vibration determined for the machine, that is, if the shaft vibration is above acceptable limits, the machine may be shut down. However, when a machine is forced to be shut down, there is a stoppage in productivity of the machine, and in many cases this is costly, and some cases very costly, to a business.